the alter of male and female commitment. It is through this action that the most intense and profound communication can occur between two people. It is only through this preeminent act that Tita and Pedro at last confirmed and surpassed their love from mortality to eternity. An analogy is made by Dr. John when treating Tita, that all humans are born with a certain amount of passion or a certain amount of matches in a matchbox. To achieve happiness one must light up their matches one by one, little by little, until they have reached the totality of their potential bliss. However, these matches cannot be lit alone. They need a significant other, an oxygen that could keep their fire burning. If these matches are left alone throughout life, they will moisten and lose all feasibility to be lit. If this happens and at some point such a great passion is ignited that causes all the matches to light up all at once, then an uncontrollable fire will consume the soul, leaving it with no air to breathe, causing its earthly collapse and taking the soul to a luminous tunnel where an eternal life of love should take place. This is precisely what occurred to Pedro when he and Tita had sexual intercourse for the very first time. The ecstasy that he felt during climax was so powerful that he died and entered this luminous tunnel. Without him, Tita knew that she would never be able to light her candles again, thus, literally taking matches, eating them, and creating a fire of her own within her. She was successful in that she saw the bright tunnel and Pedro within it. They wrapped each other in a long embrace, again experiencing an amorous climax, and left together for the lost Eden. Never again would they be apart. They achieved their purpose in life: to find the soul mate with whom to integrate and run away with them to an infinite realm comprised of pure love.The magic produced in Tita and Pedro’s consummation was one that created s...
